Todd Golden previews the SEC Tournament: ‘We're trying to win a championship’

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Gators enter the postseason with their highest-scoring team in program history, led by the All-SEC backcourt of Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton Jr. Clayton leads Florida in scoring and ranks sixth in the SEC at 17.1 points per game, while Pullin is on pace to post the SEC’s best single-season assist-to-turnover ratio (4.38) this century.

Another UF transfer, forward Tyrese Samuel, was named to the AP All-SEC team on Tuesday, while Alex Condon earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team. The Gators (21-10, 11-7 SEC) are the No. 6 seed in the SEC Tournament and will play Georgia or Missouri on Thursday at approx. 9:30 p.m. on SEC Network following the conclusion of the 7 p.m. game.

Here’s everything Florida coach Todd Golden said the loss at Vanderbilt, his team’s postseason accolades, the SEC Tournament and more.

Todd Golden Q&A

On losing momentum with the Vanderbilt loss:

Golden: “I think, obviously, we didn’t play well enough and a lot of that, like I said after the game, was things we can control. Tricky at the same time because we shot 51 from the field and we held them to 35 from the field, so there were some things that we did very well. But the rebounding and the ball handling was really discouraging. The way I’m kind of thinking about it, the ball handling, we’ve been really good all year. I kind of feel like that was a little bit of aberration. I don’t expect that to continue. The rebounding has been a little bit trendy going the wrong way and so I think, for us, the biggest thing this week is going back and focusing on the things that don’t require talent and to us, that’s the rebounding and the ball handling. Definitely not OK with the loss but it’s definitely not the end of the world either and I think at this time, if we’re as mature of a team and we’re trending the right way as a program, which I think we are, I think we can use this as a good learning lesson to remind ourselves that we came off a great game against Alabama and we won by 16 or 18 or whatever it was. I think human nature took over a little bit and not just our players, our whole program was like, ‘Hey, we’re pretty good,’ and maybe we got ahead of ourselves a little bit. But this should be a good reminder and kind of a centering for us like, ‘Hey, we have the capacity to be really good but if we don’t play hard and we don’t do those things that have made us what we are all year, then we can be average.’ Obviously disappointed with it but I do feel like we can use it the right way this week and think we started to yesterday.”

On the postseason creating a sense of urgency:

Golden: “I think there’s a clear understanding of what we’re playing for. We’re trying to win a championship and it will take four really good days to do that and obviously we have to start with a really good game on Thursday against a Georgia or Missouri team, whoever we see. I think it was a tricky game and I don’t think we did what we needed to do, clearly, but I do think we’ll respond the right way this week.”

On the Vanderbilt loss being a wakeup call:

Golden: “It’s a cliche but I think it might be right. We talk about it all the time, we guard against those types of efforts every time we might run into one and I think this team’s done a really good job all year of not allowing that to happen. We just allowed it to happen in our 31st game. It’s disappointing but I think, again, if it was the fourth game of the year and we didn’t let it happen again, we’d be alright so, again, we’re trying to use it as a good learning lesson, something to build off of and not trying to overreact to it because our body of work has been good all year.”

On playing to win the SEC Tournament:

Golden: “Absolutely. We beat three out of the four teams that finished above us in the NET in conference play and only played Tennessee on their floor. We feel like when we’re playing our best we can compete and beat anybody so that’s the goal. Obviously, having to play four games makes that a lot more difficult and you have to take it one day at a time. Thursday night is not going to be easy regardless of whether it’s Georgia or Missouri. Both those teams provide some difficulties in matchups and different things. It’s going to be a challenge that way but we’re definitely going to Nashville to try to win a championship, for sure.”

On the postseason accolades for Florida:

Golden: “It’s awesome, first of all. We talk about it a lot. Individual accolades are great and something we want to celebrate. But big picture-wise they don’t happen without the team. If we don’t finish with 11 wins in conference play – say we win seven – we’re not getting those conference accolades. While we will celebrate those individual accolades and efforts, I think this team more than any other, it’s the work done by all the guys that provided a chance for those guys to win those accolades. So, continuing to pour into that team-first mentality I think is important, while also enjoying the recognition.”

On Zyon Pullin not making AP All-SEC:

Golden: “I don’t know who votes, so I’m not sure. I think that was a little bit of an oversight. I think it’s pretty clear to everybody who has followed the league that he’s one of the five best players in the league this year. The good thing, ZP is really mature and I don’t think he would care one bit about it. I don’t think it’s going to bother him or upset him. I think he knows what he’s capable of and our program appreciates what he’s brought to the table. He was recognized by the league, which I think is the most important thing for us.” 

On the breakdowns against Vanderbilt:

Golden: “Tricky, like I said, because we guarded pretty well. We held them to 35 percent. They’re a team that executes really well and runs good stuff, which is hard to do. We were just a step show on our block-outs. We had a couple fluky plays where two guys were going for [rebounds] and it bounces off hands and goes out of bounds or bounces to them. It was just a little bit lack of effort and physicality. That’s what I keep going back to. The good thing, those things are correctable and we’ve been doing that all year. And I have to credit Vanderbilt, as well. Those guys played their tails off. For us, part of it was fighting human nature. We felt like if we just went out and played a good solid game we’d be OK. That clearly wasn’t the case. Vanderbilt, obviously, they played really hard. They didn;t make a ton of shots and didn’t shoot a good percentage, but they played hard and put more pressure than us on the glass and we didn’t handle that very well.”

On whether that falls on frontcourt or backcourt:

Golden: “This is a collective issue for us, for sure. It was definitely up in the front court, but it was definitely the wings and in the backcourt. Whether it was our guards not blocking out their guys and getting to the spots where we require them to get when the shots go up, I thought our bigs weren’t physical enough, but our wings weren’t either. It was a team-wide issue. It wasn’t necessarily one guy here or there. I can’t point out one guy, with the exception of Condo who was playing at that level in terms of going to get the ball.” 

On balls hitting UF players in their hands:

Golden: “Yeah, we had some fluky plays in the game. We missed two dunks. We missed two other what we call naked layups where it was just available to lay it in. We missed those. A lot of things didn’t go our way on Saturday, but again, the expectation is to play well enough … Those things are going to happen. Whether it’s missed layups or dunks and things aren’t going your way down the stretch, those are going to happen. Again, the things that don’t require talent. I’m going to sound like a broken record. I just have no other better way to describe it. Again, a good reminder this week. If we do the same thing, it’ll be very hard to win again Thursday night.”

On playing three games on three consecutive nights:

Golden: “I don’t worry about the grind of the SEC Tournament as much as I think about the season. I think we have really competitive dudes in our program. I think they’re going to be really excited for the opportunity to compete. So, we’re going to ride it out. We’re going to do everything we can to win Thursday night. If we’re fortunate to win Thursday, we’ll do everything we can to win Friday night. If we’re fortunate enough to win Friday … I’m not worried about fatigue, is the best way to answer that. If we run out of steam, we run out of steam. But this group has been good that way all year. 

On the prep work when UF don’t know its opponent:

Golden: “Yesterday, it was all about us. We spent a lot of time focusing on those areas that we discussed earlier as well as making sure our cardio is where it needs to be. Today, we’ll do a little bit of both. A little bit of Georgia, a little bit of Missouri, a little bit of us. We’ll work on attacking the zone, attacking the press, getting ready to guard their different coverages. Tomorrow will be the same. Probably half us and a quarter of each of them, then wait until – what? – 10:30 to find out who we’re going to play, then a quick prep Thursday to go get it. The great thing, they’re not going to be more prepared for us. They’re going to be preparing for their opponent and it’ll be 11 pm by the time they get back to the hotel, so they’ll have a short one-day prep as well. But it’s tournament time, man. I think we’ll do the best we can to prepare ourselves for either opponent, and whoever it is give it the best we can for about 18 hours.”

On possibly gaining momentum playing on Thursday when that Alabama won’t:

Golden: “Yeah, potentially. Back in my WCC days, I always felt like we had a little bit of an advantage if we had played the day before, against whoever we played. But just getting in that venue, playing a full game and getting a day of prep before could definitely help.”

On the turnover off the inbound pass at end of the Vanderbilt game:

Golden: “Well, I thought it was a tough situation with the whistle. It was a inadvertent whistle. Well, we didn’t have any more timeouts. So, the inadvertent whistle allowed them to see our setup and to see where we were trying to go, not necessarily ideal in that situation. So that that hurt. And then I thought Walt made a pretty good read in terms of trying to curl it. We hit him and it was kind of a 50-50 dash to the rim and the ball just bounce off his foot. Not how we drew it up. But it was a guy that we have a lot of trust in trying to go make a play to win the game, and I’m always riding with him. I think in those situations he’s a really good competitor and he’s going to do what he thinks is best to give us the best chance to win. But the biggest frustration is I thought we had some pretty good drawn up and kind of running it, and then the whistle blows. Then we’re trying to figure out what’s going on, and then it’s inadvertent. Then we just get the ball right back and now we’re trying to run it. It wasn’t a great way to end the game. But again, we shouldn’t have been in that position either.”

On Pullin’s consistency being a reflection of his personality:

Golden: “Yeah, he’s been one of the most consistent players in America. If you look at the numbers, Denver shared a great stat with me earlier – kind of what he’s been able to do. There’s only been like one guard in America that has done it since 2016, with his efficiency and the way he’s been consistently. So yeah, I think he’s obviously a great young man, but a very consistent worker in his approach. For you guys that are around the team a lot, he’s never too high, never too low, steady, focused on the floor, very rarely displays any body language outside of his pretty standard approach. He’s just gotten better and better, too. He’s been more consistent, more consistent numbers, assist-to- turnover has been great. We’ll miss him a lot next year, as everybody knows. He’s done a great job in this rip the Gators.”

On if Pullin has surpassed the expectations he had for him:

Golden: “Yeah, I mean, I think I’d be lying to say we expected him to be a top-three or -four point guard America. I’m looking around and I’m sure there’s many better. Did we think he could do that? Yeah. But the consistency piece is where I feel like we’ve been the most impressed. Just as scoring, his ability to live in the paint and then assist-turnover, just the way he controls the game, controls the floor has been elite.”

On Pullin having an unorthodox jumpshot:

Golden: “I think he’s a great example of what makes the game so great. You don’t need to be the best athlete out there every day to produce. He has a great feel, a great understanding of space, physicality, of how to use his body to get open. He’s a basketball player. He’s just a basketball player.”